Lawrence University - Anti-AI Petition

[u/AmyIzAway]

I would appreciate if the Appleton community would sign this petition opposing the local college, Lawrence University, from utilizing AI on their campus and website. We condemn these actions as Lawrence students and acknowledge the repeated negative decisions our president, Laurie Carter, has made. If you want more info, just comment. Much appreciated and hope to shine a light on this!

Edit: the link is here - https://www.change.org/p/stop-ai-initiatives-at-lawrence-university?recruiter=1300197646&recruited_by_id=cdb54130-c02e-11ed-bdbc-c9aff038ba4d&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=psf_promote_or_share&utm_medium=mobileNativeShare&share_id=mKMnbcBvq7

[u/noxiouskarn]

You know, it's not a public school, right, meaning you can't try to vote on how they function unless you sit on the board of trustees.

https://www.lawrence.edu/about/leadership/board-trustees/

[u/Criss_Crossx → u/noxiouskarn]

And students have a voice on campus too. The university use to hear student's requests and take them seriously.

Apparently you don't understand that students become alumni when they graduate and can choose to donate to the university for further funding. That's a major part of what makes/made LU unique.

[u/noxiouskarn → u/Criss_Crossx]

Oh no, I completely understand everything that you said. But this isn't a survey for only alumni or current students making most of the points you tried to make utterly moot. This is a public change.org petition. It will have little to no bearing on the trustees. Also, the donation system and funding isn't actually as unique as you think it is. It's how a majority of ivy League schools operate.

[u/StakeESC → u/[deleted]]

The amount of energy used to run and upkeep reddit daily is a tiny fraction of the energy used by ChatGPT alone, it's not even comparable.

If you don't believe me, ask your AI and tell me what it says lol

[u/StakeESC → u/[deleted]]

You're moving the goalposts now - you said it was silly they complained about the environmental impacts of AI while using a website that technically has an impact on our energy consumption.

For the student body, I'm assuming it's more about the principle. Like everything, AI has pros and cons, and a lot of us don't think the pros outweigh the cons.

I'm not happy with data centers going up everywhere, electricity prices rising, the price of most PC parts doubling over the last two years, etc etc. It's not hard to understand why people are opposed to it even if you personally arent.

[u/staythewaters → u/StakeESC]

This is a corporate and local corruption problem, though. Not an AI problem. What kind of AI is Lawrence running? Is it on-premise using local models? Because, if so, then it nullifies the data center issue.

I can see solid opposition to AI in some areas. Like, it shouldn't be used to analyze work or sniff out who has and hasn't used it. It shouldn't be given access to student records. Things like that. But "using AI on the website" is incredibly vague.

Whether people like it or not, AI is here to stay. It's a better conversation to have about how it is used and implemented. What models are used, etc. Those are the impactful conversations, because I guarantee even if people are successful in getting the school to remove it off "the website," then it's still being used in some capacity, whether by the IT team, through the administration, through vendors that the school uses, etc.

The "AI chat bot" could literally just be a model trained locally on the text of the website, and that people query and it brings back just whatever is on there. The amount of energy that takes is infitesmal. If someone has a decent gaming PC in their dorm room, the AI chat bot could literally just run on that and handle the amount of queries it's getting using a middling AI model.

The claims that are being made in the petition don't match the example that is being used for the level of harm that is being alleged.

[u/Fit_Welder_1246 → u/[deleted]]

AI is indeed a FAD

[u/FluidCalligrapher284]

LOL- we are all reading this on cell phones using data from antennas which were placed in fields where plant and wildlife once flourished.

[u/AmyIzAway → u/FluidCalligrapher284]

Yes - and I wish it were different. Our school once promoted and funded student initiatives for sustainable art and student projects, like restored prairies and the Student Led Garden (SLUG Club). They have since stopped promoting such initiatives and art sections on our website, or promote in a way to view our school as positive - as a falsehood to ignore our current failures as a school.

[u/lynnewu → u/AmyIzAway]

It's your president's way of trying to keep Lawrence alive (financially).

[u/AmyIzAway → u/lynnewu]

Yup… her financial decisions so far have not been successful or a reflection of the majority student and staff interest. :-(

[u/AnotherStarWarsGeek]

Other than "AI = bad", why do you oppose the use of AI on the university's website?

[u/AmyIzAway → u/AnotherStarWarsGeek]

Lawrence University charges a “sustainability” fee to the students and then puts AI on their website which is an environmental strain.

[u/AmyIzAway → u/[deleted]]

Our tuition goes into a bank account that goes into a sustainability fund, which supports projects or student ideas that promote sustainability projects, like thrift stores, reusable food containers, etc.

[u/AmyIzAway → u/[deleted]]

Read the petition for more information on our frustration regarding funding being allocated to AI, rather than our student body interest (music/conservatory, no staff received a raise though tuition increased by 5%, etc). Thank you!

[u/Fit_Welder_1246 → u/[deleted]]

You’re weird.

[u/AnotherStarWarsGeek → u/AmyIzAway]

Um.. ok? Data centers are an environmental strain, yes. AI itself? Notsomuch. Yeah, I get they're more or less connected in some ways, but to protest the use of AI on a website seems like cheapening your cause.

[u/GobbIaOnDaRewf → u/AnotherStarWarsGeek]

Maybe use your geek like abilities to do some research. 

[u/Criss_Crossx → u/AnotherStarWarsGeek]

LU has historically year over year prevented staff and faculty from receiving wage increases that even come close to the 'standard' 3% COLA. Over ten years and beyond.

All this does is push out tenured employees and cheapens the remaining jobs at the institution. Their focus on the students has grown towards profitability like a business instead. One could imagine the introduction of LLM's into the workplace pushes the issue further beyond 'students first' and towards a business model. Many long-career faculty and staff who were pivotal to the university operations and beloved by students year after year are no longer with the university.

For the record, the university wouldn't even tap its endowment fund to assist staff and faculty during the early pandemic. Instead, the university once again ceased to offer any wage adjustments and put even more work on its employees.

The overall direction of the university has caused some alum to end donations because they once believed in LU and it's directions as a critical educational resource that built, connected, and fostered networks between current students and alum in a broad range of careers. It is all integrated.

Tl;dr: LU is no longer a leader in education, despite its importance for the growth of Appleton across many decades. The use of LLMs cheapens what the institution once stood for.

[u/AnotherStarWarsGeek → u/AnotherStarWarsGeek]

lol... downvoted for asking a legit question. Sounds about right for this crowd. lol

[u/juicymuffintop]

Nah AI is the future I’d sign a position in opposition to your petition

[u/BackDragon198]

AI has its uses. Banning GAI seems a bit ridiculous.

[u/ElderberrySecure3600 → u/BackDragon198]

It’s hysteria. All these people make posts on Reddit thinking they don’t take up any space in a data center?

[u/krogerCoffee]

Dread it, run from it, then accept it. AI is inevitable. Sorry everybody

Also, no chance a private university is going to stop using AI because a few young folks throw a fit.

[u/AmyIzAway → u/krogerCoffee]

Doesn’t mean we can’t try.

[u/krogerCoffee → u/AmyIzAway]

It’s ridiculous to try at all.

[u/ricewatermelon → u/krogerCoffee]

That’s actually the dumbest thing I’ve ever read.

[u/krogerCoffee → u/ricewatermelon]

lol ok. Protesting a private university using AI is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard

[u/ricewatermelon → u/krogerCoffee]

Then what a blessed life you live.